QUESTION: how many of you guys pay attention to your dreams? Well Toronto singer/songwriter, KYRA MASTRO finds dreams very fascinating and ponders whether nightmares reflects fears and insecurities…or do they mean nothing at all.
Her latest single, ‘Tread Lightly’ explores having a haunting nightmare about someone close to you.
In the dream, they hurt you, a side of them you have never seen before. However in the waking life, you’re left shocked by how real the dream felt, leaving you with a degree of fear of the monster they may potentially became.
What do you think? Answers below please! In the meantime, watch the lyric video for the single below…
Formed in 2013, THE LYONZ are a Canadian music group and art collective largely focused upon hip-hop and electronic work. Consisting of Salvo (Anthony Salvo) and Norrin (Terrell McLeod Richardson), their debut album, ‘Peace Beyond The Pines’, released in 2015, led them to perform various shows in Canada and landing a spot in Montreal’s 2016 international Jazz Festival. Their musical style landscapes atmospheric dynamics, conveyed through heavily processed synthetic layers, shifting drum patterns, and the blending in of treated instruments frequently met with melancholic verses. Their unique sound is often unconventional, with arrangements established by high production values, involving extensive digital editing and mixing.
Although primarily a musical group, THe LYONZ also work with other forms of media. They have gained notoriety through their visual artwork including personalized event flyers, short videos, and merchandise. A notable example is their string of weekly flyers promoting their DJ residencies at Montréal venues.
So if you haven’t of these guys, let me introduce you to their mesmerizing latest single, ‘Fall’. Check out the video below…
Stephen James Hawley – aka LIQUID – is a co-founder and member of the Internationally acclaimed and Juno award winning Montreal collective Bran Van 3000. Best known for their smash hit, ‘Drinking In LA’, LIQUID is back and smashing through the walls and barricades with his new track, ‘Hard Labor’, released last Friday (8th November)
On a cold fall day, LIQUID sat on top a local terrace, having just demolished it in entirety. He sat amidst the brick and demolition on his lunch break and said aloud: “That’s Labor!” “Hard Labor!” His recently released from custody boss hollered back at him: “It’s Hard Labor!” He repeated with a toothless grin welcoming LIQUID to the rubble.
“That’s what I’m gonna call my next album!” Liquid proclaimed! “Hard Labor!”
Birthed amidst the brick and mortar, ‘Hard Labor’ was born. Swinging a sledgehammer, with pick at foot, the foundation was created.
LIQUID call upon Rench, the Brooklyn based producer and frontman of the Billboard charting band Gangstagrass. The Emmy Nominated producer of the theme song for the hit TV show ‘Justified’, created an alternative fusion of bluegrass, country, blues, rock and rap, reflecting the blood, sweat and tears of a working man’s journey.
‘Hard Labor’, the title track of his upcoming EP, sets the pace for an engaging, prolific journey through the eyes of a man; a dreamer, working hard for job creation, to better his future.
NEW LEASE MUSIC has caught up with REBEKAH HAWKER, whose single ‘Kempenfelt Bay’ was named Song of the Month by the blog back in August.
Stick around to find out what’s she has been up since the release of the single (taken from her EP, ‘Careful Women’) plus her general views of the music industry of today.
NLM: Hey, thank you for taking part in an interview with NEW LEASE MUSIC. So what have you been up to in the music circuit?
RH: I feel so honoured you would ask me, it means a lot to be able to share with you so thank you! I’ve mostly been focused lately on touring, specifically in Ontario to support the release of my EP ‘Careful Women’. I have some songwriter showcases coming up in November and more shows planned for the new year as well. I’m excited to showcase these songs in front of people who might connect with them.
NLM: Back in August, you released your single, ‘Kempenfelt Bay’. What was the public reception of the single so far?
RH: So far listeners have been so generous and kind with their responses to ‘Kempenfelt Bay’. I feel really grateful to those who have reached out to me to share how the song has impacted them. So many people I know have moved away from their hometowns and share the same nostalgic feeling I’ve written about in the song.
NLM: What’s your inspiration behind the single?
RH: I wrote Kempenfelt Bay when I moved away from home for the first time and was renting a single room in a boarding house in downtown Toronto. It was the most isolated and lonely I had ever felt up to that point in my life. I was terrified at the overwhelming weight of the future, and having to move forward into it. All I could do in that moment was look back and remember my home, and an old relationship that made me feel so comfortable and safe, it had me longing for home.
NLM: You also released your four-track EP, ‘Careful Woman’, back in August. What’s your proudest single on the project and why?
RH: What a tough question! That’s the musical equivalent of asking a mother to choose her favourite child. It’s really hard to choose one, although I will say ‘Round of Fools’ will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first single I released from the EP. I felt a lot of pressure riding on that first song and its reception. I was really joyed to learn after its release how much it was resonating with people , it carried itself so much further than I could’ve anticipated.
NLM: So how would you describe your sound to potential fans?
RH: I would say it’s this country folk hybrid that focuses on storytelling, both through the lyrics and the melodies I write. There are also some traditional, more vintage country sounds woven in.
NLM: If you had to collaborate with ONE mainstream artist, who would it be?
RH: Maybe this is super expected but it would be so fun to collaborate with Kacey Musgraves. She’s an incredible writer, so honest and such a powerhouse. I feel like I could write the most badass songs with her.
NLM: If you had three wishes to change the music industry today, what would they be?
RH: 1. I think I’d try to make mentorship more accessible to artists (especially female) of varying success levels. To create a community where we can share more freely across levels and can better instil knowledge of both the business and creative side of music for artists in the beginning stages of learning and playing.
2. I would take over the country radio stations and change the old model of the boys club, more women on the country charts!!
3. I would change the vibe of ‘there can only be one’ that plagues so many artists. That mentality, especially for women (even more so for women of colour) who see there are only so many females allowed in that space is so damaging and leads to this insane competition that pits women against each other in a very unhealthy way. Collaboration and community always wins.
NLM: So what are your plans for this year?
I’ll be continuing my touring, hoping to make some new friends across the way and collect some new experiences. I’m applying to some festivals domestically (in Canada) so hopefully most of next summer I’ll be on the road. I also have a few music videos planned in the next couple months so that is something to be looking forward to…
NLM: How can potential fans make contact with you?
RH: You can find me most active on instagram and facebook! @rebekahhawker as well as through my website http://www.rebekahhawker.com. I’m very friendly so they can reach me on those platforms and I’d love to chat with them :)
NLM: Finally, if music didn’t exist, what profession would you do?
RH: I’ve always been so interested in the minds of those people around me, how they work and how I can understand them more clearly and understand how to navigate those relationships effectively and positively. I totally would have worked in the psychology world, as a therapist but probably also as a researcher of a sort. Being a couples therapist as well could be so interesting!
Frontwoman Rachael Cardiello – from five-piece pop art rock group ZINNIA – spent most of her twenties processing her dad’s death, an experience which emotionally toughen her up.
She explains: “In some ways, I feel like I processed it so fully that I grew a thick callus around the part of the loss that was very raw and fragile. At times I’ve resented the tough skin which was necessary to get through that hard time.”
To mark the ten year anniversary of his death, the Toronto-based singer/songwriter wrote ‘Requiem’ on the plane ride home to Montana. Described as a significant milestone, the single also serves as the singer’s curiosity to see how her grief would change.
‘Requiem’ is taken from the group’s debut full-length, ‘Sensations in Two Dot’, set for release on 22nd November. The nine-track project focuses on moments of doubt and probes into the complex, unsettling similarities found in the human experience.
QUESTION: how many of you guys pay attention to your dreams? Well Toronto singer/songwriter, KYRA MASTRO finds dreams very fascinating and ponders whether nightmares reflects fears and insecurities…or do they mean nothing at all.
New Lease Music 